Motor vehicles include electronic control units (ECU) forming an on-board diagnostic (OBD) system for controlling various systems and/or subsystems within the vehicle. Such control units, for example, are employed to control the engine, transmission, brakes and the steering mechanism. These control units are typically coupled to a variety of sensors and/or actuators. Depending on the vehicle, the control units may implement various different communication protocols. In addition, many of these control units operate at different voltage levels and may transmit data and signal information in differential or single-ended modes.
In the vehicle industry, computer devices such as, for example, hand-held, laptop or tablet computers are used to communicate with a vehicle diagnostic system for the purpose of motor vehicle maintenance and repair. The computer device can communicate with the ECUs to trouble-shoot problems associated with the various systems and sub-systems. The computer devices are generally not compatible with the communication protocols of the ECU. To properly interface the computer device with the ECU, a vehicle communication interface (VCI) is generally provided to enable communication between the computer device and the ECU. Typically, the VCI is coupled to the ECU by way of a data link connector (DLC) and a cable connection. The DLC and cable connection generally support a limited number of communication protocols for ECUs, for example, SAE J1962. Because of the limited protocols supported by today's DLCs and cable connections, a computer user could not use the SAE J1962 cable connection and the VCI to interface the computer device with a USB port of a computer network such as, for example, a LAN, WAN or Internet. Instead, if a technician completed the vehicle diagnostic test and wanted to connect the computer to a computer network, the technician was forced to change out the cable connections or otherwise provide additional Ethernet cable connections for direct connection to the USB port of the computer. In addition, to power the computer device, the technician would need to provide a separate power supply connection to the computer. The use of multiple cables for communication and powering of the computer device can clutter the work space and make it otherwise inconvenient to interchange computer communication between the vehicle and the computer network.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an apparatus and method for coupling a vehicle communication interface device and a computer to either a vehicle on-board diagnostic system or a computer network using a single cable. More specifically, it is desirable to provide an adapter that can enable a VCI and computer to use a SAE J1962 cable connection for either communication with an OBD system or a computer network.